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| This is a grab from YTN footage about Koreans leaving a kid alone in a car during their trip to Guam last summer. This case triggered major repercussions and enhanced awareness about caring children. |
By Oh Young-jin
A man received two years behind bars for going to massage parlor ― among other crimes ― leaving his five-year-old son alone in a car.
Chunchon High Court confirmed a lower court sentence for the man, 60, Monday, for child abuse and endangerment.
Court records showed the man had a fight with his wife who demanded child support and left the scene, telling her that she wouldn't see them. He also attacked his wife with blunt objects.
He took their second son, a five-year-old away in a car, after his older nine-year-old escaped, as he drove away.
The man stopped at a massage parlor in his neighborhood and left the son locked in the car.
Police found the car and the child inside after the wife called them to report the incident.
The child was locked inside the car for nearly two hours.
His father was sleeping inside the parlor.
The court said that taking a five-year-old without the consent of the virtual custodian ― the wife ― amounted to virtual kidnapping.
The father claimed that he tried to calm himself and intended to take him back to his mother.
The court observed the panic the child felt being alone in the car, rejecting the father's plea for leniency.
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